by Sean Pratt | Apr 9, 2020 | Film Recommendations
Dear Cinephiles, John Ford’s “The Searchers” stands tall as one of my top five movies of all time. It’s probably the one film I’ve seen the most in my life – and the one that I find myself discovering new layers and new ideas with every viewing. Did you also know that...
by Sean Pratt | Apr 8, 2020 | Film Recommendations
Dear Cinephiles, Can the simple act of seeing a movie make you happy? I wholeheartedly know it can – and watching “All About My Mother” by master director – Pedro Almodovar – will do just that. Here’s a film that is brimming with life – that celebrates resilience...
by Sean Pratt | Apr 7, 2020 | Film Recommendations
Dear Cinephiles, “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Worrying And Love the Bomb” is Stanley Kubrick’s best film – and to this day remains the boldest and funniest movie ever made. In 1964 – at the height of the Cold War and when the Cuban Missile crisis was fresh on...
by Sean Pratt | Apr 6, 2020 | Film Recommendations
Dear Cinephiles, When Spike Jonze’s movie “Her” was released in 2014, there was an immediate understanding that the film was a timely – and visionary – reflection about the human condition and our relationship to technology. Although the film is set in the near...
by Sean Pratt | Apr 5, 2020 | Film Recommendations
Dear Cinephiles, How something bad can create something so beautiful? That is at the heart of one of my favorite Kirk Douglas’ movies, “The Bad and The Beautiful.” In the 1950s, when the studio system’s power started to fade, there were a group of films that – not...
by Sean Pratt | Apr 3, 2020 | Film Recommendations
Dear Cinephiles, We’ve all felt lonely, misunderstood or like you don’t belong at some point – maybe if you’re like me – you’ve felt all of these emotions all at once in the past immediate weeks. Stephen Chbosky’s film –...
by Sean Pratt | Apr 2, 2020 | Film Recommendations
Dear Cinephiles, When first released in 2010, “The Social Network” was one of the timeliest movies ever released – and with every passing year – its urgency and relevancy keeps increasing. What would our current moment be without social media?...
by Sean Pratt | Apr 1, 2020 | Film Recommendations
Dear Cinephiles, “The overwhelming impression throughout “Stop Making Sense” is of enormous energy, of life being lived at a joyous high,” the great late critic Roger Ebert wrote in 1984 about the release of Jonathan Demme’s...
by Sean Pratt | Mar 31, 2020 | Film Recommendations
Dear Cinephiles, Since a lot of you are staying at home with the entire family, we thought of suggesting an incredible film that everyone can enjoy together. We’ve picked the Oscar winning animated film “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.”...
by Sean Pratt | Mar 30, 2020 | Film Recommendations
Dear Cinephiles, I think we all need a good laugh – and I encourage you to see “Some Like It Hot” – what many critics consider to be the greatest comedy ever made. In 1959, Billy Wilder concocted this hilarious farce that moves swiftly –...
by Sean Pratt | Mar 29, 2020 | Film Recommendations
From the first time I saw “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” I fell in love with it. It remains in my top 5 list of all time favorite movies – and one that I have seen a multitude of times with my students throughout the years. In 2007, artist and...
by Sean Pratt | Mar 27, 2020 | Film Recommendations
Dear Cinephiles, “Before Sunrise” is one of the most romantic movies ever made – and one that I return to over time as I age. It’s particularly special for me right now – understanding what the movie so eloquently proves: the greatest...
by Sean Pratt | Mar 26, 2020 | Film Recommendations
Dear Cinephiles, Traditionally, movie musicals have been known as pure escapism. Bob Fosse changed all that in 1972 with the utterly stylish “Cabaret” which won him an Academy Award for best director beating Francis Ford Coppola for “The...
by Sean Pratt | Mar 25, 2020 | Film Recommendations
Dear Cinephiles, I have found that the past week where we have had our daily routines and habits altered has been an opportunity for introspection —and afforded me time to count the blessings and the important things in my life. That’s why I feel that...
by Sean Pratt | Mar 24, 2020 | Film Recommendations
Dear Cinephiles, When I’m asked a list of my favorite films – without hesitation I pick Sofia Coppola’s “Lost In Translation.” I include it in my film class every semester. The film defies categorizing. It’s got comedy – it’s got...
by Sean Pratt | Mar 23, 2020 | Film Recommendations
Dear Cinephiles, Today’s recommendation is one of the most sumptuous films —Howards End; the best of the Ismail Merchant/James Ivory films based on E.M. Forster’s 1910 classic novel. This is a beautiful and intoxicating movie, made in 1992, yet...
by Sean Pratt | Mar 22, 2020 | General
by Sean Pratt | Mar 22, 2020 | Film Recommendations
Dear Cinephiles, For this weekend I recommend one of my ultimate favorite films – NOTORIOUS – directed by the master himself Alfred Hitchcock. I’ve seen this gem a multitude of times – and I find great comfort in revisiting it time after time....
by Sean Pratt | Mar 20, 2020 | Film Recommendations
Dear Cinephiles, I hope this note finds you healthy both physically and spiritually. I have found in the past week in isolation that this is a time for self-reflection and about understanding the priorities in life as well as the importance of friends and family....
by Sean Pratt | Mar 19, 2020 | Film Recommendations
Dear Cinephiles, Today’s recommendation is SIDEWAYS —which launched the world’s discovery of the Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Barbara’s wine region. This is a road movie. I’ve always found that in difficult times films that take us on a journey...
by Sean Pratt | Mar 18, 2020 | Film Recommendations, General
Dear Cinephiles, I hope this note finds you well. Since we’re spending time at home, we thought of sending you daily movie recommendations – accompanied with a study guide (below) with fun facts. The first film is one of our personal favorites, David O....
by Sean Pratt | Jan 17, 2020 | features_a-f
2020 Oscar Nominated for Best International Feature Film. Inspired by real events. Daniel had a spiritual awakening while serving his sentence in a youth detention center for second degree murder, but his criminal background prevents him from becoming a priest once he...
by Sean Pratt | Jan 10, 2020 | features_a-f
Grace Fisher was a child prodigy musician, proficient on three instruments, and on her way to the world famous Berklee College of Music in Boston. At her 17th birthday party with her friends, she developed a severe pain in her spine. By the time she got to the...
by Sean Pratt | Jan 10, 2020 | features_a-f
Thirty-seven seconds without breathing at the time of her birth was all it took for Yuma (Mei Kayama) to develop cerebral palsy. For the physically restricted 23-year-old, those brief moments have shaped the course of her life. They take on additional significance...
by Sean Pratt | Jan 10, 2020 | features_a-f
Isabelle Brodeur embarks on a journey to Vietnam, her adopted daughter’s birthplace. Her path leads her to the woman who was once her daughter’s nanny and then to her daughter’s biological mother. Throughout this stunningly beautiful journey, Isabelle discovers her...
by Sean Pratt | Oct 25, 2019 | General
by Sean Pratt | Nov 27, 2018 | General
by Sean Pratt | Oct 1, 2018 | General
by Sean Pratt | Nov 2, 2017 | General
by Sean Pratt | Oct 4, 2017 | General
